Did we REALLY have our Worst Start in 15 yrs?!!

.....and we are STILL top?!

And we achieved this despite...

Long term injury to Captain Nev Long term injury to ScholesLong term injury to ParkLong term injury to Foster3 match ban to Ronaldo6 week lay off to RooneyNo pre-season for Tevez Hargreaves joined us with an injury.......and there is poor old Saha.

I just don't get it, I thought Francenal were playing the best football week in week out and have been playing out of their skins all season.....

...so what happens when we get going, because we have barely got out of 2nd gear in our last few games (5 out of 5 wins to Francenals 7 points out of possible 15) - Fergie sure was right about them dropping points!

The cliche is CONSTANTLY posted on this board that 'anything can happen', and everyone here has this inexplicable fear of being wrong on here due to the expected abuse that follows, but I dont care, I was confident we would win the title before the season started, infact I was confident we would win it 3 years ago! Nothings changed.

Fair play to francenal, no one expected them to challenge so quickly, but we did expect them to start wobbling and that they are right on Fergies cue! Its not over, chelski aren't finished either (bet they spend big in jan), but I look at our team and dont see another as good or with as much 'potential' (key word here), as they are so young still!

Got to be honest, 3 months ago I just couldnt see us winning the title this season. I thought Tevez would take a lot longer to get going, didnt think Anderson would figure much this season, and with Scholes, Saha, Neville etc out, I thought we would struggle to retain the title and would be more primed for the CL.

Glad that I could be completely wrong as the football we are playing is fantastic. The biggest thing for me is the way we have reacted to defeats this season. Both times gone on good winning runs to make the ground back up - thats a sign of Champions!!

Would just like to say, what a season Wes Brown is having as well. He's come in for Neville and done a fantastic job so far. Easy to miss him what with the performances of everyone else. It was his great pass to Rooney that set us off on Boxing day!

I still think that despite everything that has gone on with them this season, come May Chelsea will be our top challengers. I think Abramovich will be hell bent to justify letting Mourinho go, and will spend any amount in January to make sure his team delivers something.

Arsenal has been magnificent, I truly feel they are going to be something very special, but this season I don't think they will have the grit and maturity to keep their pace. Still, you never know, there has been examples of a team winning with "kids" in the past...

Liverpool I am writing off - I just don't believe Benitez will ever stop tinkering with the team. If he would, they have some serious talent and should be there or thereabouts in May.

Overall my heart tells me United all the way, but in reality it's too close to call... because anything can happen!!! (:

I`m not so sure about chelsea, they have been badly hit by injures and suspensions - no Cech, no Terry. no Drogba, no Lampard, no Cole - and will be further hit by the African Cup of Nations. Currently their squad isn`t good enought to deal with those absentees and they will almost certainly splash the cash in January but any new players will need time to settle, especially if they come from outside of the premiership. You only have to think back to what poor buys Vidic and Evra looked like when they first joined utd to realise how difficult it can be to adapt to the premiership, and it doesn`t help if a player`s new club needs them to make an instant impact.

Arsenal are playing great football, Chelsea are still in touch in spite of their troubles, Liverpool may be the least consistent but they are a totally different prospect this season with Torres. In spite of all this, I have never been so positive about the possibility of United winning the EPL for the 10th time and making a real challenge for the CL. I know these competitions are not easy to win, and with things as close as they are - yes, sorry Chris, 'Anything can happen' - but there is something tremendously exciting about this current set of United players. I feel as if we have only seen a glimpse of their true potential and that this is all about to be unleashed in the run-in to May. Come on United!

God! it's posts like these that makes me so ecstatic not to be a ManUre "fan" or whatever it is you like to call yourselves............... what a sad bunch of losers and no marks you lot must be in real life, that's if you've got any lives and aren't all doing cr@p hopeless jobs and all still living with your mums.